contamination
[ kuh n-tam-uh-ney-shuh n ]
/ kənˌtæm əˈneɪ ʃən /
noun
the act of contaminating, or of making something impure or unsuitable by contact with something unclean, bad, etc.
the act of contaminating, or of rendering something harmful or unusable by the addition of radioactive material: the contamination of food following a nuclear attack.
the state of being contaminated: The manufacturer recalled the product because of possible salmonella contamination.
Rare. something that contaminates a place or substance, as by making it impure, unsuitable, harmful, or unusable; a contaminant.
Linguistics.
- an alternation in a linguistic form due to the influence of a related form, as the replacement in English of earlier femelle with female through the influence of male.
- the process of forming blends.Compare blend(def 9).
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Nearby words
- containment,
- containment, policy of,
- contakion,
- contaminant,
- contaminate,
- contango,
- contd,
- contd.,
- conte,
- contemn
Origin of contamination
1375–1425; late Middle English contaminacioun < Late Latin contāminātiōn- (stem of contāminātiō), equivalent to contāmināt(us) (see contaminate) + -iōn- -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for contamination
contamination
/ (kənˌtæmɪˈneɪʃən) /
noun
the act or process of contaminating or the state of being contaminated
something that contaminates
linguistics the process by which one word or phrase is altered because of mistaken associations with another word or phrase; for example, the substitution of irregardless for regardless by association with such words as irrespective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
contamination
early 15c., from Latin contaminationem (nominative contaminatio), noun of action from past participle stem of contaminare (see contaminate). Figurative sense is from c.1620; specifically of radioactivity from 1913.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
contamination
[ kən-tăm′ə-nā′shən ]
n.
The act or process of rendering something harmful or unsuitable.
The presence of extraneous, especially infectious, material that renders a substance or preparation impure or harmful.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.